Social media reacts to IARP ruling for Kansas men’s basketball program
Social media users had a lot to say about the punishment the Kansas men’s basketball program received from yesterday’s IARP ruling.
The Kansas Jayhawks walked away from the six-year-long investigation into their program relatively unscathed. In the final case for the IARP (Independent Accountability Resolution Process) before its disbandment, they lessened KU’s offenses from five Level I violations to two Level II and III violations.
When the news initially came out in 2018 that Silvio de Sousa’s mother had taken $2,500 from a third party to have him commit to Kansas, there were fears of postseason bans and even harsher punishments. However, the NCAA decided to give Kansas a ‘slap on the wrist’ penalty, giving the Jayhawks three years of probation and letting head coach Bill Self off the hook.
Perhaps the most severe outcome from the ruling is that Kansas was forced to surrender 15 victories and the Final Four appearance since de Sousa appeared in 20 of the team’s final 23 games during the 2017-18 season. That effectively crowns Kentucky as the winningest college basketball program until further notice. KU’s all-time record of 14 consecutive regular season conference titles has also been erased.
Considering how things could have gone down, Kansas basketball fans were generally pleased with the IARP ruling. Some of the Jayhawk faithful took to X (formerly Twitter) their thoughts about the situation.
Kansas men’s basketball fans react to IARP ruling
Not crazy upset but the NCAA vacating wins & making KU take a final four banner down because of a player that the NCAA cleared to play just seems kind of silly..
— Braiden Turner (@bturner23) October 11, 2023
Travis Goff is a legend.
— KU Live Tweets/News (Fan Account) (@kutweetsandnews) October 11, 2023
-Hired Lance Leipold
-Gave Bill Self a lifetime contract
-Followed through with football stadium renovations
-Helped create an NCAA best NIL program
-Got Kansas Basketball through five Level I infractions with almost no penalties.
Until Kansas fails to make the field on their own merit, the tournament streak is active. Idc what NCAA record books claim.
— Phog Advisory (@PhogAdvisory) October 11, 2023
Thank god we all agree the Villanova game never happened https://t.co/219AN05MHV
— Adam Sullivan (@Sully_2029) October 11, 2023
BREAKING: Lawrence, Kan. -- Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self is said to be in intense pain this evening. The reason: He broke a rib from laughing for hours in the wake of the IARP's ruling. 😉
— Jeff Potrykus (@jaypo1961) October 11, 2023
If we’re being honest, Kansas deserves zero penalties from the IARP/NCAA and should in fact be praised for how it handled the situations. They discovered Preston’s car situation and held him out. They held out DeSousa until the NCAA ruled him eligible (which they did, TWICE)
— 🕶️ (@kevbo9) October 11, 2023
Rival fanbases react on social media
Outside the Kansas fanbase, the consensus is that KU was penalized with practically nothing. As you might imagine, several fanbases are sensitive to this topic. The NCAA issued Oklahoma State a postseason ban for far less egregious violations during the 2020-21 season. Schools like LSU, Arizona, and now Kansas have gotten away with it, so to speak.
People on social media were NOT happy.
Let’s look at some reactions from non-Jayhawk fans on X. We’re going to see a lot of negative comments here…
In the shadowed hallways of collegiate basketball, there lies a monster – one of corruption and avarice. Today, it was Kansas men’s basketball that stepped into the harsh spotlight, a byproduct of the sordid 2017 federal probe into the sport. Charged with five Level I violations… pic.twitter.com/wNdsbT7TEd
— Joshua Claybourn (@JoshuaClaybourn) October 11, 2023
The NCAA gave Kansas a slightly worse punishment than they gave Kofi Cockburn for selling his own Illinois basketball gear.
— Dan Wavering (@DanWavering) October 11, 2023
https://twitter.com/notZac_Smith25/status/1712182761220419937
I am very glad the current Kansas players weren't punished for the program's past mistakes, but seeing this as an Oklahoma State fan/grad it's actually hilarious how corrupt the NCAA is at this point. Can't even be mad with how blatant it is these days lol https://t.co/OPrz8MHZmD
— Ricky Frech (@RickyFrech) October 11, 2023
The @ncaa should be done after this Kansas ruling. Oklahoma state cooperated. Self penalized. Did nothing wrong to begin with. KU fought tooth and nail. One got hammered. The other got practically nothing. It’s honestly unbelievable.
— AMFC (@AMFC1662) October 12, 2023
Expecting either us or Oklahoma State to get the death penalty as a result https://t.co/OAM70yapeF
— Barstool Mizzou (@BarstoolMizzou) October 10, 2023
Shocker, the penalties for Kansas basketball blatantly violating NCAA rules amount to an absolute nothingburger
— Derek (@DerekAggie06) October 11, 2023
The @NCAA is so mad at Kansas, they’re going to add two years probation to Missouri football
— Roll ‘Bama Roll (@rollbamaroll) October 11, 2023
So weird…. instead of using impending NCAA sanctions as an excuse for poor recruiting Kansas gets a top 100 guy on the SAME DAY
— Mitch Handegan (@WeWantMitch) October 11, 2023
Man what it must be like to have an actual basketball coach at your university. https://t.co/NUWpRKelKm
Kansas and self always do whatever they want. The NCAA is scared of them and probably delivered this note with an apology for even having to investigate.
— kcjefff (@kcjefff) October 12, 2023
Next. 5 takeaways from Blue-Crimson scrimmage during Late Night. dark